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| Japanese | 四 |
|---|---|
| Simplified | 四 |
| Traditional | 四 |
四 (Kangxi radical 31,囗+2, 5 strokes,cangjie input田金 (WC),four-corner60210,composition⿴囗⿰丿㇄(GHTV) or⿴囗儿(JK))
| Historical forms of the character四 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shang | Western Zhou | Spring and Autumn | Warring States | Shuowen Jiezi (compiled inHan) | Liushutong (compiled inMing) | Libian (compiled inQing) | |||||
| Bronze inscriptions | Oracle bone script | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Bronze inscriptions | Chu slip and silk script | Qin slip script | Shizhoupian script | Ancient script | Small seal script | Transcribed ancient scripts | Clerical script |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
The word "four" was written as亖(sǐ) beforeWestern Zhou and四(sì) appeared in lateSpring and Autumn period. This alternative form was used to prevent confusion of亖(sǐ) and二(“two”) or三(“three”) in vertical writing. It was standardized inQin dynasty.
The bronzeware style of the character featured a repositioning of those four lines inside口(kǒu); this later evolved into the combination used today of口(kǒu,“mouth”) and八(bā,“divide”) which meanta dispersal of breath. It could thus be said thatfour is a borrowed meaning for this character. The original sense is preserved in呬 (OC*hrids), by adding an extra口. Compare this character with只 and曰.
| simp. andtrad. | 四 | |
|---|---|---|
| alternative forms | ||
FromProto-Sino-Tibetan*pV-lij.
| Rime | |
|---|---|
| Character | 四 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 心 (16) |
| Final (韻) | 脂 (15) |
| Tone (調) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open |
| Division (等) | III |
| Fanqie | 息利切 |
| Baxter | sijH |
| Reconstructions | |
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /siɪH/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /siH/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /sjɪH/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /siH/ |
| Li Rong | /siH/ |
| Wang Li | /siH/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /siH/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | sì |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | si3 |
| Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 四 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | sì |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ sijH › |
| Old Chinese | /*s.li[j]-s/ |
| English | four |
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; | |
| Zhengzhang system (2003) | |
|---|---|
| Character | 四 |
| Reading # | 1/1 |
| No. | 12022 |
| Phonetic component | 四 |
| Rime group | 至 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 四 |
| Old Chinese | /*hljids/ |
四
As superstition,四(MC siɪH) isavoided because it is similar to死(MC sˠiɪX,“death”) in sound.
| Chinese numbers | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 106 | 108 | 1012 | |
| Normal (小寫 /小写) | 〇,零,空 | 一,蜀 | 二,兩 /两 | 三 | 四 | 五 | 六 | 七 | 八 | 九 | 十 | 百 | 千 | 萬 /万, 十千(Malaysia, Singapore) | 百萬 /百万, 桶(Philippines), 面桶(Philippines) | 億 /亿 | 兆(Taiwan) 萬億 /万亿(Mainland China) |
| Financial (大寫 /大写) | 零 | 壹 | 貳 /贰 | 參 /叁 | 肆 | 伍 | 陸 /陆 | 柒 | 捌 | 玖 | 拾 | 佰 | 仟 | ||||
In Min Nan numbers, thevernacular (白) pronunciation is the more common pronunciation, while theliterary (文) reading is used for reading numbers out loud, such as in phone numbers. Please note that this usage is similar to the usage of the variant幺 for the numeral一 in Mandarin.
| Playing cards in Mandarin ·撲克牌／扑克牌 (pūkèpái)(layout ·text) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 尖兒 /尖儿(jiānr) | 二(èr) | 三(sān) | 四(sì) | 五(wǔ) | 六(liù) | 七(qī) |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 八(bā) | 九(jiǔ) | 十(shí) | 鉤兒 /钩儿(gōur) | 圈兒 /圈儿(quānr),皮蛋(pídàn,regional) | K(kèi) | 小王(xiǎowáng,black),大王(red), 小鬼(xiǎoguǐ,black),大鬼(dàguǐ,red) |
or=''si''Please seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.
Others:
| simp. andtrad. | 四 | |
|---|---|---|
四
| < 3 | 4 | 5 > |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal :四 | ||
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 四 |
| よ Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
⟨yo2⟩ → */jə/ →/jo/
FromOld Japanese, fromProto-Japonic*yə.
In modern Japanese, Japonicよ(yo) is more common than Siniticし(shi,see Etymology 3) outside fixed compounds, which is similar to七(nana) but different from other numerals. The reason may be a superstitious connection to死(shi,“death”), or simply avoiding confusion with similar sounding一(ichi,“one”) and七(shichi,“seven”).
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 四 |
| よん Grade: 1 |
| kun'yomi |
Shift fromyo above,[1][2] influenced by analogy by the final sound of preceding number三(san,“three”). The most common form as a stand-alone number.
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 四 |
| し Grade: 1 |
| on'yomi |
/si/ →/ɕi/
FromMiddle Chinese四(MC siɪH).
Due to Chinese influence,四(shi) is sometimes avoided as it is homonymous to死(shi,“death”).
| Kanji in this term |
|---|
| 四 |
| すう Grade: 1 |
| irregular |
| 40 | ||
| ← 3 | 4 | 5 → |
|---|---|---|
| Nativeisol.:넷(net) Nativeattr.:네(ne),(dated)넉(neok),(archaic)너(neo) Sino-Korean:사(sa) Hanja:四 Ordinal:넷째(netjjae) | ||
FromMiddle Chinese四(MC siɪH).
FromProto-Japonic*yə.
Also used as借訓(shakkun)kana for⟨yo2⟩.
四 (yo2) (kanaよ)
四:Hán Việt readings:tứ[1][2][3]
四:Nôm readings:tớ[1][2][4],tứ[2][3],tư[4]
